The present invention relates to wire harnesses, and in particular, to harnesses for supporting wires from a stud within a wall.
Building wiring is normally routed among the studs in walls. In the past such wiring has been secured close to the studs by stapling or otherwise. When many wires are secured to a stud they often come very close to the exterior of the wall. Safety considerations require keeping the wires within the wall at a minimum distance from the plasterboard or other exterior surface finishing the wall. Such minimum spacing has been incorporated into the building code of some jurisdictions. If too close to the exterior, wires may be pierced by nails or other fasteners driven into the wall. Such interception may either short the wire or place the nail head at a dangerously high potential. This dangerous condition may not be detected before a worker or home owner is injured. Alternatively, a nail piercing the sheath of a wire may not cause immediate damage until later when vibration precipitates the short. Such short can cause a dangerous overload or fire.
Numerous brackets and harnesses exist for supporting wires. Well known wire harnesses can hold the high voltage lines for automobile ignitions. Similarly, other known brackets can support wires in electronic equipment. None of these known wire harnesses, however, are arranged to support building wiring in a position which avoids damage by nails.
Known U-shaped brackets (for example U.S. Pat. No. 3,363,864) are designed to hold wires to as stud. These brackets, however, are not designed to orient the wires so that they are held centrally between the external surfaces of a wall. Thus, this known bracket will not avoid the nailing damage described above.
Also, known wire clips include barbs that allow wires to be pushed easily into the clip. The inwardly directed barbs prevents inadvertent removal of the wire. See also U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,090,826; 3,861,015; 4,141,524; 4,566,660; and 4,905,942.
Accordingly, there is a need for a simple and effective bracket for holding wires in a central location in stud constructed walls to prevent nail damage.